2017 MET Gala Carpet: Not Your Typical Red Carpet

14 Years of Dedication to the MET Gala “Red” Event

RedCarpetStore is proud to announce our work with the 2017 MET Gala, the “Oscars of the East”.

And as Dwayne Holmberg of Raul Avila, designer for the MET Gala, told us:

“From order to execution, nothing compares to RedCarpetStore. I could not do it without them.”

For the 14th consecutive year our crew geared up to take on the largest and most prestigious event on the east coast. The project began in September of 2016 in the first meeting at the MET. And they uttered the dreaded words we should be used to hearing: “We want Sisal again.”

What is Sisal Carpet?

The toughest, heaviest, and hardest carpet material we work with. There are faux products out there, but that wasn’t an option because they wanted the best. We needed real woven Sisal carpet…and a lot of it.

Does it seam well? No. Does it fair well with moisture? No. Does it bend easily? No. Sisal carpet is our toughest opponent, but for the MET Gala, only the best will do. And RedCarpetStore is the best.

So a week later an order for 8000 yards of Sisal carpet was ordered from across the world. We waited a few months and finally got the call. It’s here. Now on to step two: get the carpet painted.

We loaded all 56 rolls into our trucks and proceeded to drive them to our neighbor in Long Island to be hand painted. Two weeks later we were on our way back to pick it up. Beautiful blue accents and designs were hand-painted on the fragile material. Every piece was marked and noted as to how it was to fit together on site to fulfill the project vision.

After a few more meetings and trips to the MET to iron out various details, the event was almost here. With the help of 60+ of our masterful installers, we embarked on our 4-day adventure into the Metropolitan Museum of Art to install 8000 yards of carpet up stairs, around corners, across wide stretches of floor.

We Go the Extra Mile for All Our Clients

Day and night we worked. We hit some obstacles and roadblocks along the way. For example, the floors at the MET are very delicate and before we used our double sided tape we decided to take extra care and mark the entire job with painter’s tape first so we wouldn’t risk damaging the floors. The outside portion of carpet was also complicated as we had to lay it out spur-of-the-moment — thankfully we not only had enough material, but that we could adapt on the fly! But the biggest obstacle was, by far, the long staircase and ballroom.

The staircase alone took us almost 24 hours to cover. One at a time, we wrestled with the material to make it perfectly contour to each step. But with a lot of determination (and coffee) we finished the job!

Quality Craftsmanship and Dedication

Afterwards, we spoke with the head coordinator and walked the site not once, not twice, but three times to ensure everything was perfect. The Blue sections needed to be perfectly symmetrical and every step on the staircase needed to be 100% secure. And believe me…there were a lot of steps.

In the end, I was extremely proud of the entire RedCarpetStore staff for a flawless install. And two days later our crew returned to the MET and we ripped it all out! The 2017 MET Gala was over and it was time for RedCarpetStore to move on to its next big project.

The MET Gala is considered to be one of the largest fashion events in the world as well as one of the primary fundraisers for the Metropolitan Museum Of Art. We at RedCarpetStore are extremely thankful and humbled to be involved with this event. We look forward to being the supplier for their carpet for years to come.